Crime

Opinion: Community Must Stay Engaged to Make Police Accountability a Reality

Published

9 years ago

July 26, 2017

By Rashidah Grinage

“If not for the court’s intervention, we have no confidence that correct discipline would have ever been imposed, criminal charges filed, or departmental shortcomings examined.…. Just as OPD required court intervention to conduct a thorough investigation, the City required Court intervention to investigate the Department, and that too raises questions of sustainable progress in the absence of Court supervision.” ~ Ed Swanson

In 2011, it seemed likely that the City of Oakland might soon petition the federal court to end its oversight of the Oakland Police Department (OPD, asserting that the city had fully complied with the tasks set out in the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) – a set of reforms agreed to in 2003 in the wake of the class action law suit known as the “Riders’.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys had required, in addition to a huge financial settlement that the city also enter into an agreement that would require substantial reforms in police practices, training, supervision and discipline to be completed within five years.

The question People United for a Better Life in Oakland (PUEBLO) asked was, “What’s to prevent the city from backsliding after the court’s supervision ends? What’s to ensure that OPD will continue to operate in an equitable, constitutional manner free of racial profiling?”

We concluded that once the court’s oversight ended, we would have nothing in place to guarantee continued compliance with these reforms, which was unacceptable.

It was clear that OPD was resistant to reform, that the Citizens’ Police Review Board lacked the authority needed to hold the police department accountable, and that none of the city’s mayors had been able to get OPD to comply with the NSA.

What was needed was a structural change: a change in the city’s charter that would transfer authority from the City Administrator to a Police Commission, which would have the power to rule on policy as well as discipline officers.

We knew that we would need to build a strong, community-based coalition to create a ballot measure to achieve those changes. The Coalition for Police Accountability began to take shape and start work on the Charter change in 2012.

By the time of last year’s election, when 83 percent of Oakland voters approved Measure LL, establishing Oakland’s first Police Commission, it was clear that the community had reached the same conclusion that Ed Swanson articulated in his recent report.

The city itself, not just OPD, lacked the ability to adequately manage its police department. In its 14^th year of federal oversight, it is clear that there will be parallel agencies overseeing OPD beginning this fall: the federal court (and its monitor) and the Oakland Police Commission.

In September, the City Council will be presented with a slate of seven candidates for commissioners and two candidates for alternates. Five will be submitted by the nine-member selection pane, and four will have been selected by Mayor Libby Schaaf.

Soon thereafter, the Police Commission will be seated. Its meetings will be public and televised on KTOP, and there will be hearings on issues important to the community.

And just as the commission will be expected to hold the police department accountable, so must the residents of Oakland hold the commission accountable.

We should expect the commission’s work to hasten our exit from federal oversight and begin to provide police services that exemplify “best practices.”

It will take all of us staying engaged and committed to make this a reality.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted for charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

Published

3 days ago

August 19, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By Jana Lang Post Youth Writer

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

In Oakland, Black August celebrations are being held all month long. It has particular significance here because of the links between the Black Panthers’ organizing activities that highlighted both the social conditions and over-policing of the Black community, leading to the high incarceration rates and disproportionately long prison sentences.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson, who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

bpusa-syndication

Posts by bpusa-syndication

Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

1 week ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.